Big Valley Museum

Museums

The Big Valley Museum, an Alberta Museums Association Recognized Museum, is governed by the Big Valley Historical Society which, in turn is a federally Registered Charitable organization and a Registered Alberta Society.

The Society had its roots in the 1970’s when a group of local citizens felt the need to preserve the demised St. Edmund’s Church building and the, also demised, CNR station. Through the years additional historic structures and sites were “adopted”, maintained and restored.

The Alberta Prairie Steam Tours project brings over 22,000 visitors to Big Valley, as train passengers, each year. In addition we host school related trips and bus tours, as well as “drive-in” traffic.

The Big Valley Museum encompasses several sites:

1.) The McAlister Motors building (which includes the museum office, a wide variety of artefacts plus an antique vehicle and machinery display);

2.) The 1916 St. Edmund’s Church (formerly an Anglican Church - now a Provincial Historic Site, locally AKA “The Blue Church);

3.) The former Alberta Wheat Pool grain elevator;

4.) Two antique railway baggage cars featuring displays including over 3,600 antique hand tools, a collection of approximately 1,000 salt and pepper shaker sets, and numerous antique toys; and

5.) A portion of the 1912 CNR station in which the museum displays more local memorabilia. The rest of the station features the Canadian Northern Society’s large collection of railway related memorabilia.